Verse 7 says, “And others fell on the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.” The thorns here signify the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches, which choke the word from growing in the heart and cause it to become unfruitful. The thorns, the anxiety of this age and the deceitfulness of riches, match the section in the constitution covering the attitude of the kingdom people toward riches (6:19-34). Several times in that section of the constitution the words “anxious” or “anxiety” are used. The Lord tells us not to be anxious about our living, about what we shall eat, drink, or wear. The third type of soil is not as bad as the second, but it is still difficult for the seed to grow in it because of anxiety and the deceitfulness of riches. All these thorns must be uprooted. If the anxiety of this age and the deceitfulness of riches are rooted out of our heart, the seed will grow.
The parable of the sower seems very simple, but it is actually deep and profound. It exposes the real condition of our heart in the presence of the heavenly King. Whatever is in us is exposed. This parable covers the hardness by the worldly traffic; the hidden lust, self, and flesh; and the anxiety of the age and deceitfulness of money. These are the wayside, the rocks, and the thorns. As long as you are either the wayside, the soil with hidden rocks, or the soil with thorns, the kingdom cannot grow in you. In other words, the church cannot grow in those types of soil. In order for the church to grow, the seed must fall on good earth.
Verse 8 says, “And others fell on the good earth and gave fruit, some indeed a hundredfold, and some sixty, and some thirty.” The good earth signifies the good heart that is not hardened by worldly traffic, that is without hidden sins, and that is without the anxiety of the age and the deceitfulness of riches. Such a heart gives every inch of its ground to receive the word that the word may grow, bear fruit, and produce even a hundredfold (v. 23). The good heart is a heart which has no worldly traffic, no rocks, and no thorns. It has no hidden sins, selfishness, lust, or flesh and no anxiety of the age or deceitfulness of money. This kind of heart is truly pure to match the spirit. Such a heart is the good soil that grows Christ. Christ as the seed of life can grow only in this kind of heart, this kind of soil. This is the soil that can grow the kingdom.
In the United States of America there are millions of Christians. Recently a magazine said that there are fifty million regenerated Christians in this country. Only the Lord knows how many among this number are genuine Christians. Although there are so many Christians, I wonder how many are the good earth. How many have no worldly traffic, no hidden sins, flesh, lusts, or self, and no anxiety or deceitfulness of money? How many are poor in spirit and pure in heart? It is very difficult to find such Christians. Although we may be surrounded with Christians, we rarely find one who is truly poor in spirit and pure in heart. How about you? Do you still have worldly traffic in your heart? Are you truly poor in spirit and pure in heart? Are there any hidden rocks deep within? What about the anxiety of this age and the deceitfulness of money? Although we must consider these questions, we should not be discouraged. Rather, we should be encouraged. Nothing can stop God’s economy. There will be at least some who are the good earth. According to the percentage indicated by the Lord’s parable, this is twenty-five percent of the believers. I would be happy with even five percent. How good it would be if among all the real Christians five percent were poor in spirit and pure in heart, had no hidden self, flesh, or sin, and had no anxiety or deceitfulness of money! How wonderful it would be if five percent were pure for Christ to grow in them! Here and there, in so many major cities, the Lord will find the good earth. The Lord is merciful. We might have had too much traffic, but the Lord saved us from the wayside and placed us in the center of the farmland. I know of many brothers and sisters in whom the Lord has dug out all the hidden things and uprooted all the thorns to make their heart the good earth. Praise the Lord for this! There is no doubt that among us a good many are the good earth, the good soil. The kingdom and the church are growing here. Here in the church life we are growing Christ, and we are growing the kingdom. The kingdom does not come by our working. It comes only by the growth of Christ within us. May we all be impressed that today in the Lord’s recovery the Lord is doing the work of sowing Himself into people so that He may have the good earth to grow Himself into the kingdom. This is the first parable, and this is the preliminary work for the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens.